Paul Cezanne [French, b.1839, d.1906], La route (Le mur d’enceinte) The Road (The Old Wall). Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of Julian and Josie Robertson through the Auckland Art Gallery Foundation, 2023

SAM’s showcase exhibition, Facing Modernity: Degas to Picasso from Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, brings art royalty to regional Victoria

The art world is absolutely exploding this year in regional Victoria.

Local galleries are turning heads, presenting works worthy of the Louvre Museum from international showcases, national prizes, to Australian exclusive exhibitions. Their walls, floors, and glass cabinets will house some of history’s most valuable, celebrated, and evocative artworks from renowned, revolutionary artists.

At the forefront of that conversation is Shepparton Art Museum (SAM). 

Since its major development in 2021, SAM has cemented itself as a premier arts institution, bringing world-class exhibitions to their Yorta Yorta facilities. Their 2026 program is exemplary of this, as they host not one, but two, major blockbuster exhibitions. In September they will be the Victorian exclusive site to host Australia’s most prestigious art award, the Archibald Prize, and this month they are underway with their landmark exhibition, Facing Modernity: Degas to Picasso from Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki.

Facing Modernity: Degas to Picasso from Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki.

When: Until 20 September 2026

Where: SAM Shepparton

Keep up to date with all things arts, exhibitions and stage here.

 

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“We’ve been in this building for four and half years now. It was such a huge achievement to get this $50million dollar art museum built and I feel it has taken this long to get used to the building and to settle in. We often refer to it as a toddler learning to walk but we’re certainly not walking anymore, we’re running,” laughs SAM Artistic Director, Danny Lacy.

Lacy held the position of curator at the former SAM site from 2010-12, returning to spearhead SAM in its current capacity as one of Australia’s leading regional art museums and the newest purpose-built collecting institution in regional Victoria – boasting one of the nation’s most significant collections of Australian ceramics and regional holdings of South Eastern Indigenous Art. Their upcoming blockbuster exhibitions speak to his ambitious artistic direction at both a local level and their added international appeal.

“This is my second stint in Shepparton. It’s so nice to come back not just for this brand new building but to lead a new direction and to lead this realisation of what everyone hoped this building would deliver. Behind that, we love delivering exhibitions of world-class quality even when it is a collection exhibition. The standard that we present our shows is really high.” 

 

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“This is the next step in seeing what we can do. We’re pretty ambitious in our programming. Have we bitten off more than we can chew this year? We’ll soon find out [laughs] but when you have these opportunities and when you’re working on a multi-year program you want to try to inspire people, excite people, build that cultural tourism in the region, and prove yourself,” he says. 

Nothing says proving yourself quite like securing paintings from Picasso. Having opened on 23 May, Facing Modernity brings an extraordinary assemblage of modernist masters to regional Victoria for the first time, including Picasso, Matisse, Dalí, Cézanne, and Hepworth. Spanning nearly a century of innovation, the exhibition presents 37 paintings and sculptures, tracing the evolution of modern art from Impressionism to Cubism, Surrealism, and post-war abstraction. These works, drawn from Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, have captivated audiences in Aotearoa New Zealand and now take their only bow in Australia, enthralling Shepparton’s audiences with an unparalleled visual feast. 

“It’s such a coup to be able to bring an Australian exclusive exhibition of the quality of this show to Shepparton and to the region and our community as well. We’re really pumped and proud.”

 

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The exhibition is anchored by the significant Robertson gift to Auckland Art Gallery, offering a rare glimpse into one of the world’s most important private collections of modern art. From the delicate brushwork of Impressionism to the audacious geometry of Cubism and the dreamlike landscapes of Surrealism, Facing Modernity illuminates the radical ways artists reshaped perception and narrative in the modern age. 

From movements to the town of Mooovin’ Art, Facing Modernity brings audiences face to face with some of the most spectacular, peculiar, and striking artworks in history. SAM complements the exhibition with an ambitious public program designed to animate these works and their histories. Curator and guest talks explore the movements that defined modernism, guided tours provide deeper insight into the artists and their techniques, and the SAM Deep Dives Lecture Series contextualises modernist thought for audiences of all levels. For younger visitors, Petit Picasso Studio for Kids offers free drop-in workshops, while the after-hours Bar SAM Soirée energises the gallery with live jazz, food, and exclusive access. The signature SAM Van outreach program further extends these experiences to schools and community centres, delivering Picasso-inspired workshops to local children. 

 

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“This show is so rich in content and all of these famous artists, and to riff off of that to develop these amazing programs is great. We’ll have some audio guides recorded by our Friends of SAM and some kids so there will be a multiplicity of voices in the space as well,” Lacy says.

“It’s such a rich period of history to think of that 1850 – 1950 period – the rise of modernism, the industrial revolution – there’s so many things to talk about. It’s really great to tap into those lecturers and experts in some of that subject matter. It’s University quality and feeds incredibly into the exhibition. We have something for everyone in terms of the programs.”

Beyond the Facing Modernity gallery space, SAM shines with its permanent collection, local exhibitions, and ongoing experiences offering visitors the chance to engage in grassroots and national art.

“Our permanent collections will still be on display and we’ll still have our fantastic local artists exhibiting like Aleisa Miksad with Pareidolia and Fran O’Neill’s On The Move, and then there’s our collection space. There’s also a cool project in our kids gallery called the SAM Soccer Academy which really taps into that World Cup fever, and soccer is really mad up here in Shepparton. That’s a great project to have on as well.”

 

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Outside its walls, SAM has catalysed a city-wide celebration of art, with local businesses and the council collaborating to amplify the exhibition’s impact. 

“You can feel it in the town,” Lacy explains.

“The council have been a huge supporter of SAM and they are running an Eat, Stay, Play, Shop guide where they have run an EOI for businesses to get on board. They’ve had about 50 local businesses who have jumped on board to offer discounts, run very creative packages to their food, drinks, and services. That speaks volumes to the support from our local community.”

It’s an incredibly exciting win for the regional town, with Lacy determined to continue drawing world-class experiences to Shepparton to inspire the next generation of Picasso or Matisse. For Lacy, the museum’s mission is as much about access as ambition. 

 

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“For me it’s about access. Growing up in a small regional town in country Victoria you would have to travel to Melbourne to the NGV or even to Canberra to the NGA to see big shows. What SAM can do now to host these big blockbusters and it means that local people, local school kids, can see some of the most famous artists in the world on their doorstep,” he says. 

“We just want to celebrate art and get as many people in the building as we can to share in that.”

Facing Modernity: Degas to Picasso is presented in partnership with Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki and is on display at Shepparton Art Museum, Shepparton, Victoria from 23 May until 20 September 2026. Shepparton locals can purchase tickets at a reduced cost. 

Head here to find out more about the exhibition.